Advancing regional agro-food value chains in Africa

The topic of advancing regional agro-food value chains in Africa is gathering more and more attention and is gaining importance in the process of transformation of African economies. Driven by the agricultural and food sector, the local economy is dependent on coordinated and coherent approaches to promote the attractiveness of agro-food value chains and their integration into the world economy.

Despite the international commitment to pursue food security objectives in Africa and promote economic development, the number of development actors working in the field of agro-food value chain development remains small and thus the experience and valuable lessons. Therefore, the report seeks to gather and present information, best practices and lessons what works and what does not in advancing regional agro-food value chains in Africa. In the further chapters of the report, the authors discuss the regional dimension of agricultural value chains and the local challenges. Additionally the report shows that regional approach to such value chains facilitates technology transfer, skills development, economies of scale, business model replication and demonstrate impact of small holders. Chapter 4 offers an overview of all analysed projects and in the last chapter the authors offer key lessons and provide recommendations for future programming.